The prior art has discussed the use of certain inert particulate solids as insecticides, see for example; Driggers, B. F., "Experiments with Talc and Other Dusts Used Against Recently Hatched Larvae of the Oriental and Codling Moths," J. Econ. Ent., 22 327-334 (1929); Hunt, C. R., "Toxicity of Insecticide Dust Diluents and Carriers to Larvae of the Mexican Bean Beetle," J. Econ. Ent., 40 215-219 (1947); P. Alexander, J. A. Kitchener and H. V. A. Briscoe, "Inert Dust Insecticides," Parts I, II, and III, Ann. Appl. Biol., 31 143-159, (1944), which concluded that ". . . the relative killing powers of different dusts run parallel with their capacities for promoting evaporation."; Chiu, S. F., "Toxicity Studies of So-Called `Inert` Materials with the Rice Weevil and the Granary Weevil," J. Econ. Entomol. 32 810-821 (1939); David, W. A. L. and B. O. C. Gardiner "Factors Influencing the Action of Dust Insecticides," Bull. Entomol. Res., 41 1-61(1950); Ebling, W. and R. E. Wagner, "Rapid Desiccation of Drywood Termites with Inert Sorptive Dusts and Other Substances," J. Econ. Entomol. 52 190-207 (1959); Bar-Joseph, M. and H. Frenkel, "Spraying Citrus Plants with Kaolin Suspensions Reduces Colonization by the Spirea Aphid," Crop Prot. 2 371-374 (1983); Farmer, A. M., "The Effect of Dust on Vegetation--a Review," Environ. Pollut. 79: 63-75 (1993); Dahliwal, J. S., "Effect of Rain Fall and Kaolinite Spray on the Corn Leaf Aphid Infesting Barley," Forage Res. 5 155 (1979) and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,159,536 (1964), 3,235,451 (1965), 5,122,518 (1992) and 5,414,954 (1995). In particular '954 relates to "methods and means of selectively controlling the movement of crawling arthropods and more particularly to non-toxic non-debilitating methods and means for causing crawling arthropods to abandon sites they have infested or for discouraging crawling arthropods from infesting a site where they are not wanted." According to '954 this is accomplished by "a method of restricting crawling arthropods from climbing onto a skewed surface comprising forming an adherent, continuous, substantially uniformly thick coating on said surface by applying thereto a dispersion of minus 10 micron titanium dioxide particles in a liquid and '954" specifically refers to a "method wherein said crawling arthropods are cockroaches," each of which is incorporated herein by reference with regard to its teachings relating to particulate materials.
Chemical insecticides have been used extensively in horticultural crop production to control certain arthropod pests such as arthropods and mites. These chemical insecticides generally belong to the following types of chemical compounds: inorganic (sodium fluoaluminate), organic (dithiocabamates, organophosphates), and antibiotic (agrimectins, spinosins). These chemical insecticides are physiological toxins that kill arthropod pests. Additional insecticidal classes are hormonal (phenoxyphenoxy) that kill arthropods by physiologically disrupting the growth processes, biologicals (entomopathogenic fungi, bacteria, and viruses) that kill by causing fatal diseases, soaps (potassium salts of fatty acids) that kill by suffocation, and diatomaceous earth that kills by desiccation.
The above references refer to particulate solids that are toxic to arthropods and kill these pests.
There is still a need for an effective nontoxic method for protecting surfaces from arthropod infestation based on particulate materials that are not considered harmful to mammals, birds, fish, beneficial arthropods, and the environment.